After the Epilogue
by Good Evening
Summary: ZeKa, mentions of sexual relations between males, incest, violence, and alcohol abuse. Language. Kaname is dealing very badly with Zero's death, but Zero can do nothing to stop his depression, and Ichiru only fuels the fire. Guest appearance: Death.
1. Chapter 1

This isn't exactly required reading for this little series. You can read it if you want, but it's mainly me pissing about their attitudes and what might be in for them when they all kick the bucket. (Also, _As A Note_ Ch.1 has been republished. I think it's a little better. Maybe not as sadistic... what the Hell am I saying--I don't remember what the Hell I wrote. Enjoy.)

* * *

Zero was not a patient man. He had not been patient when he was a child, and now, nearly twenty years later, he was still a bit of that child. He didn't like his position, and he didn't want to be dead quite yet. Or, at least, he didn't want to be dead without enjoyable company. His brother eyed him oddly over their scratched vinyl table. They had lingered in the hospital, Zero now uneasy to move and leave his _family_. The steam of coffee did nothing to revive him.

"If you're just going to sit around inhaling caffeine, it isn't going to do you any good." He opened his eyes, looking coldly at his brother. Death had done fewer favours to their relationship than quiet evenings in the garden.

"Don't expect me to automatically get used to this. You hung around me for a good decade; I'll stay as long as I want." Ichiru's smugness took a hit from the comment, but he shrugged it off,

"Suit yourself. You always were the **stubborn** one." Zero winced, glaring up at his twin just as the man conveniently looked away, whistling something random. They were sitting casually in the hospital's cafeteria, every now and then tilting back cups of coffee they had to retrieve by themselves because nobody was going to take their order. Every now and then, Ichiru would turn his head and talk to someone Zero couldn't care about, then explain to him, with the same giddy smugness he'd had since his brother had died, that it was an ex patient. Zero didn't ask any more questions about it, but Ichiru seemed very content to talk as long as his brother would listen. Which the twin did very well, for all of his stubbornness.

They had been staying in the hospital for a few days, Ichiru getting acquainted with various burn patients, victims of homicides and double-suicides. Zero seemed touchy whenever Ichiru talked about it. He didn't want to think himself dead, yet. He really wasn't ready, now that he had reached the endpoint. Having just suicide victims and an annoying sibling to chat with was taxing him and gently scrubbing away the reservation he'd had until the moment the blood had worn off. The very last thing he could remember was Kaname running up the stairs, shooting with lightning speed to Zero's room while the man collapsed by the door. He could remember hearing sobs, which made his heart pang guiltily, because he'd wanted to leave with the clearest conscience possible. He punched his brother when the boy told him half-suicide victims related to him: lovers without love, accompanied by the tendrils and wraps of woe and depression as their relatives and partners stayed on the sidewalks or in asylums, no longer waiting for them, no longer remembering. It chilled Zero to the bone.

It surprised him that Death was not a usual visitor of the Common Room they all seemed to share. The cafeteria was the very nerve centre of the hospital, thrumming with the life on which the ghouls and ghosts fed hungrily. Zero found it pathetic and distasteful, but when he thought about it, it was fairly lonely not having someone to talk to, or someone to watch and protect. They weren't exactly all alone in this, and he could see people that were fairly happy with their choices, but others crept and crawled through the walls, floors, and halls, resisting the gentle, solemn peace and rare happiness, and instead joining the shrouds and cocoons and shades, some becoming those very beings. Zero was a very lucky fellow. Ichiru turned to him, snapping him out of his daze.

"This man here," he pointed. His hair was getting longer, "wants to know how you got to connect with Kaname." Zero stared blankly at the empty space beside his brother. He'd been told that some people didn't want to be seen, but was still wary of them, and not quite ready to accept the whole idea.

"What?" he asked, earnestly. Ichiru made a face.

"The wire—how'd you do it?" Zero took a look at the wire, still suspended from his lips, still leading to the man in the maternity ward,

"Tell him to mind his own business." Ichiru did. Apparently, the man went away. If someone didn't want to talk about something at this point, it probably wasn't worth sharing.

Zero felt the line move a little, noting Kaname's changes in mood. He got up from the table, picking up his coat (even though he couldn't very well get cold, unless he wanted to,) and walked out. Ichiru followed him casually, looking bored and chastened by his brother's constant, disapproving glares. He'd already made peace; he was just waiting for his other half to do the same, and that would take another two people who were annoyingly insistent about staying alive.

They walked through the wards and halls, Zero still seeing only the nurses, edging by carts and tables and wheel chairs while things just seemed to move out of the way for his brother. The younger continued to whistle, saying something about being 'in tune'. Zero didn't bother listening.

Making it to Yuki's room, Zero stopped, peering in. Ichiru pushed him aside, and as soon as he reached for the door knob, a nurse walked over and opened it, allowing them enough time to slip in while she performed a check-up on the woman and her child. Zero's heart swelled, Ichiru looking around the room in boredom.

Kaname sat in the chair beneath the window, head leaning down, eyes focused on his son while the nurse asked his wife a few questions. Harue beamed when the twins came in, thrashing in his father's arms, still wanting to play with Zero's hair. Smiling, Zero leaned down and, for the first time, Harue felt the man. His smile widened, and he giggled and gurgled like the babe he was. Kaname seemed a little perplexed, but excited in any case as he tickled his son and urged him to help scare away the sadness Zero saw clinging to him.

Ichiru inspected a few books on the nightstand, still uninterested in the scene. He wanted to get back home. He was quite thirsty.

"Hello, Harue. How are you?" Zero waggled his finger at the baby and watched him bite it, smirking when the child's gums folded around him. The boy truly was incredible. Kaname continued to tickle him while Zero played and joined him, first grabbing the baby's little nose, then playing with his tiny feet, and ending with a squirming, bouncing belly that jiggled with delight. When Zero pulled away, he seemed very disappointed that Kaname hadn't noticed. It was downright killing him. Ichiru picked up on that, finally getting interested.

"They don't hear you. Even those that believe in you won't see you." Zero kept gazing at the baby, whose cheeriness warmed him.

"I know. Maybe it would be a good idea to get going." On cue, the nurse exited the room, smiling back at the family and allowing the brothers enough time to squeeze by. They stood in the hallway, Zero clutching his coat unsurely, not quite knowing what to do. Ichiru leaned on one leg, hands in his pockets, watching his brother with his hair just covering his eyes. He opened his mouth, quiet for a moment,

"… What exactly did you do to him?" Zero seemed a little dazed, pursing his lips. Ichiru preferred chewing his. They started walking,

"Whatever do you mean?" Ichiru knew every one of his brother's games: semantics weren't his style. He closed his eyes, walking around trolleys and nurses and doctors as gracefully as ever. His brother clearly made an effort not to run into anyone, unused to the fact that they probably wouldn't get out of his way. After they got into the elevator, (as Ichiru had reached for the button, a squat man of about forty emerged from the doors) they stood silently together, ignoring an old man with a radio and an I.V. who seemed insistent on reviving freeform jazz.

"I think you should start talking about this before it eats away at you. You don't want to end up like the rats in the walls," Some scratching on the roof of the room emphasised his point; if you didn't face reality, you turned into something that more than shunned it. Zero looked a little grey,

"I need a drink. You drink, right? I didn't pour an extra glass every pitcher for naught, right?" Ichiru looked at him for a moment, his red hair tie jingling as he moved his head,

"I do, and thank you," he smiled genuinely, "I really did like that." His smile was warm, but Zero had a hard time reciprocating it. His brother placed an arm around his shoulder affectionately, playing with his hair, "It's hard to smile here, at first. You have to find a reason. Most of them don't. Consider yourself lucky that you have a damn good tutor." They stayed like that for a couple of floors, until the door opened, and they walked into the lobby. Dodging wheel chairs and cases of the common cold, Zero glared at his brother, who effortlessly walked, nearly godly, to the front entrance, with an aged redheaded woman to open the door for him. Zero had to wait a few moments before some rugged cyclist shoved past. Ichiru only smiled; waiting for him to catch up.

-

Back at Zero's estate,(after an hour-long taxi ride with a marine biologist, they'd had to walk two hours up a hill,) they raided the pantry for some lemons and sugar, Zero mixing up a batch while Ichiru played with the clapper his brother had been given as a gift. When the elder tried, he frowned as it remained on, and continued stirring when Ichiru clapped once more, and it turned off. _"I have seniority,"_ he explained.

They walked out onto the patio, Zero laying down in his comfortable lounger, Ichiru standing beside him, right next to his tree and his ashes. His brother looked up for a moment,

"… I'll talk."

"Finally!" Ichiru said exasperatedly, arms swinging. Zero's eyes narrowed and he smiled, unhindered.

"But you have to answer a few of my questions." Ichiru kept standing, nodding, waiting for the man to get started,

"... When we were at the Academy and a few months before the showdown, I had a breakdown and was left with no choice but to go to Kaname for compensation," Ichiru kept nodding, not exactly wanting to imagine his brother in such an intimate position, even though he'd seen much more in his years following the creepy bastard, "That started the majority of the disgust and fights between us; I couldn't bear the memory of him; he couldn't stand the sight of me." He continued with a sigh, sipping his lemonade every two sentences or so. "A few days after the fun starts, one of his friends gets the shit beat out of him, and barely makes it. We throw down and barge in, he funs around with his uncle, and I come in, swinging a sword around. Bad guy dies, but not without taking a couple of chunks from the both of us." The next was a sigh entirely on its own, "_He_ has _Yuki_ to go to, while I have nobody, really. So before we even leave the fucking battlefield, he falls on me, nearly passing out, and tells me to drink before I die, essentially. Yuki is nowhere to be found—a very good place to hide—and her guy's just about dead. I'm not too bad, so I, in all of my goodness and grace, let him latch onto me before he kills himself with effort." He stalled for a moment, a contemplative look in his eyes that made him look stunned and frozen. Ichiru had a hard time dealing with him when he looked like that: it seemed like he was thinking something so terribly private, it was rude to look at him. After a few moments, he refreshed his glass, and Ichiru popped in with a half-question,

"So, you actually let some leech drink you 'til it was bloody full?" He held out his glass for Zero to pour more in. They resettled, and went on sipping and talking.

"Not necessarily; I was woozy, too. S'long as he could stand, I didn't have to haul his ass across the battlefield. I didn't have to hand over a quart or anything. Anyway, I get him to a room and let Yuki fawn over him, his lackeys cleaning him up and all. When I try to leave, one of them stops me, and tries to get me to go another room to do the same ritual." He snorted, "Apparently, I gave off the impression that I was drunk, I was so light headed, and pretty much collapsed on the floor. A while later, I wake up, and Kaname's in my room, writing at this desk. He's perfectly fine, and when I try to look under the sheets and check out the damage, I barely have a paper cut. Turns out, the bastard essentially drugged me while I was half-conscious." He stopped for a long gulp, and Ichiru had a hard time registering the last statement.

"So, he slipped you a pint when you couldn't help yourself?" Zero nodded, "So he **intentionally** bound you to him?" Zero nodded. Ichiru looked bewildered in the college sort of, 'Whoa, man, that's fucked,' way. "Damn. I took him for a bit of a chivalrous guy, but none of them seem _that _friendly to each other, are they?" Zero snorted again,

"No; they aren't in the slightest." They were quiet for a moment. Ichiru could see he was having a hard time dealing with his current position. Not a foot from his lover, and the man hadn't even noticed. He didn't dare think in the beginning Zero's experience in death would be the same as his, (he'd taken it much more lightly than others) even though he had at first been distraught about his inability to find his Mistress. After failing too many times, he returned to his brother, and found comfort in the warmth earth the man had placed him in. Standing by him every lazy afternoon, downing a few glasses while the breezes went on and Zero read aloud classics they both knew, though he could always sense with an uncomfortable shift the desperate starvation the man endured; never whole; always torn between his friends and his own mindset. Ichiru had barely bothered to touch the subject of Zero's thoughts toward the pureblood in the decade and-a-half he'd been dead, but now that they finally had the chance to really talk, it seemed it was the only ground left to cover.

They poured more glasses, and Ichiru sat against the chair, Zero rubbing his shoulder while he groaned appreciatively.

"I droned on quite a bit. Why don't you start talking?" Ichiru groaned again, leaning over a bit more while Zero kneaded his back,

"What do you want to know?" Thinking for a moment, the elder popped the question,

"What happened when you died?" Ichiru looked up at him for a moment, thankful Zero hadn't stopped with the backrub. The look in his brother's eyes was pure curiosity. He wondered if the man had bothered to think about what the experience might have been like, considering the circumstances under which his death occurred. All in all, it was a little insensitive. Still, he resettled, and allowed the trade, groaning 'lower', and 'to the left' every now and then between phrases.

"My last thought was that I would be reunited with Lady Shizuka. My last sight was that desperate look on your face just as I closed my eyes. A few minutes later, I find myself alone in that little outcropping. There's a trolley with some coffee, and not a soul in sight. I know I'm dead—I can't feel that damn pain in my neck—so, figuring it couldn't hurt, I grab a cup and take a sip. When I put it back down, I refresh it, and pour another cup, expecting company." He paused, sighing in deep satisfaction as Zero hit a particularly tense knot.

"So you met Death?"

"Mm. I found out later most people don't get to see it as quickly as we did, and its appearance is almost never the same. It looked like a guy who might work at Headquarters, maybe in assignment logging or keeping. In any case, he looked pretty normal, maybe a little short, so I hand him the extra cup and he tells me to take a walk with him." Zero nodded, much in the same fashion his brother had, "We talk a little about what happened, my thoughts about Lady Shizuka, you, and my options, and by this time, I can tell he's a pretty down-to-earth guy. He starts showing me the different forms we can turn into, and what the sects are divided into—you saw a bit at the hospital, what with those creepy-crawlies—and what I can do to prevent that from happening." He sighed again when Zero finished, wiggling his shoulders and laying back, still pretty straight, when Zero put a hand on his head and soothingly started petting him. He almost purred. "We get to the point where he asks me, very blatantly, about you. A little stunned, I tell him I can't answer a few things, and he smiles, only it wasn't offensive or rude. In that cheesy, 'I won't make you say it, but I know' kind of way. He tells me about the plans for my body, and what happened to Lady Shizuka."

"What did happen to her?" Zero handed him his glass. Ichiru muttered a 'thanks', and took a gulp.

"He didn't tell me everything, but I've learned that it's a little different for people who don't have anything tied to them." Zero looked puzzled, so he elaborated quickly, "I mean, I had you, so I stayed and whiled the days away with lemonade and good books. You have Kaname, so you'll probably stay until he dies, and he until Yuki, and it'll probably end there—she strikes me as the devoted type. In any case, Lady Shizuka's lover was already dead, so she was more than happy to accompany him. According to him, if you're happy enough as is, and don't really want anyone to interfere, you just sort of… wander off into your own little world. This entire planet is plagued with people _we_ can't even sense."

"Mind-boggling," Zero murmured, concluding the woman's tragically romantic getaway with her lover. He got up and walked into the house, "Go on," He said through the open door of the breakfast nook,

"Anyway, he tells me I can get pretty good at getting stuff done for myself while I wait for you, so I start with what you give me: drinks and good reads." Zero walked back out, 'mm-hm'ing with two glasses in one hand and a bottle of cognac in the other. Ichiru thanked him as the man handed him one, talking while he poured and sat down, screwing on the cap. He drank it slowly, surprisingly enough. "He tells me I can have people do stuff for me so I can go places. Open doors, delay flights—I got to go to Aruba—and I got pretty good at it. We stop for a moment and keep drinking the coffee, when he tells me what's going to happen while I'm dead, just to fill me in." Zero stalled for a moment,

"What did he tell you?" He said hesitantly, curiously, and a little uncomfortably. Unaffected, Ichiru went on,

"That you're pretty much going to be the only one mourning my death, and a bit about how long I'm going to have to stay in Limbo before we can go off on our own; before it can be just the few of us instead of hundreds of millions of other unlucky bastards." Zero didn't know what to say,

"So, my thing with Kaname screws with that?"

"Indeed it does." Ichiru looked contemplative in that moment, a slow smile curling his lips while he looked at his brother pointedly. Zero was a naturally guilty person, and he loved indulging in it.

"… I'm very sorry."

"Don't be; I like people." His brother whacked him on the shoulder and downed the rest of his glass, refreshing it shortly. Ichiru wiggled his childishly in front him, a sweet look on his face. He got whacked again before Zero poured him more.

"So, does this mean I have to tell something again?" Ichiru thought for a minute,

"I don't have much else to say. Like I said, he was a pretty down-to-earth kind of guy. We didn't really talk about much outside of comfort. After that, I hunted Lady Shizuka for a few years before coming back to you and the lawn," He looked at his brother affectionately, "I followed you damn-near everywhere." The affection turned to something more of a dirty tease as his eyes became suggestive. Zero waited for him to take a sip and countered him,

"You must have gotten an eyeful; Kaname and I fucked more often later on." Sure enough, he choked and spewed amber all over his black jacket. He cringed,

"A man should never have to witness something like that!" He said indignantly,

"You could have left the house for a few hours. It wasn't as if I was keeping you there." Ichiru growled distastefully as he stripped the jacket and checked his shirt for any stains, finding one on the collar, he growled again,

"I couldn't leave; we're drawn to the emotions of the bastards we're tied to. That's why it took so long for you to leave the hospital. Kaname was keeping you there." They didn't talk for a bit, until Zero piped up,

"What position was your favourite?"

"**Would you shut up**?! Nobody should have to see that shit. God knows it scarred me for life," He rubbed half of his face and muttered a few death-threats. The irony almost killed them again. Zero kept laughing at him every now and then, the younger scowling and biting back before his brother would ruffle his hair and pour him another glass. They were pretty buzzed when a car drove up around two in the morning.

They walked into the house as a key rattled in the lock. The door opened and Kaname came in, looking like Hell, eyes red and face white; Zero realised he'd been crying in the car. Ichiru watched his brother watch the brunette as he hung his coat, sniffled, and walked to the kitchen. The liquor cabinet was still open, but he didn't notice it, stopping at the counter and doubling over, elbows on the marble while he held his head in his hands.

"You can talk to him, you know." Ichiru said distantly. He thought of leaving the room for the sake of their privacy, but didn't want to leave his brother alone; just because you can talk doesn't mean someone can hear you.

"I'm sorry, Kaname." Clichéd, but there was no other sound to challenge the man's sobs. Zero could hardly bear looking at him, and it seemed Kaname couldn't bear thinking about him. Ichiru faded into the background, grabbing a chair and sitting down for the endurance. He lit a cigarette from his pocket and took a drag. Two a.m. left a lot of time before a winter sunrise.


	2. Chapter 2

Kaname looked like Hell. He felt like shit. Crying while driving was not the smartest thing to do, but he'd started in the hospital, and it was hard to stop, even for the few days with his family. Having Harue and Yuki snuggling with him didn't do the justice it should have, especially in comparison to a dead man's tongue squirming in his throat. He'd dropped them off at home after they had been declared exceptionally healthy by a family doctor (one who really knew them) and tucked them in before hopping back in the car and taking a fun, tear-filled three-hour drive across the pass from the Kuran Manor to the Kiriyu Estate. He had some stuff to pick up anyway.

Just coming into the driveway and seeing the car Zero would never use again killed him. He'd killed the engine and just sat for a good four minutes crying his lungs out before finally opening the door and walking up the front steps, which also nearly killed him, because he couldn't see where he was going through all the damn water in his eyes. After he'd gotten in, he kept himself a little quieter, having Zero's groggy and wrathful 'I can't believe you were so loud coming in at four in the morning' consequential tantrums burned into him. He didn't even brake out when he saw the man's favourite jacket hanging idly on one of the hooks. It wasn't until he hit the kitchen that he really burst out and broke down. He wailed pitifully when the only other sound was his echo and not some request for him to shut the Hell up so someone else could sleep. He felt sluggish and dead, already, and it didn't help that the liquor cabinet was open and ready, along with a couple of dishes and glasses drying next to the sink (a maid came by once a week to wade through the toxic filth of the living room [Zero never bothered with it].) Enough fish had died in that room to earn its own Holocaust Museum. Yuki commemorated the event with the macabre joke of a stuffed fish, which she placed strategically between a lamp and the entertainment centre, so Zero would see it whenever he sat on the couch.

He tried to mop himself up and get upstairs. Sad as he was, he definitely needed a shower and some sleep. Kaname had trained himself through the years, learning the exact layout of Zero's house so that he could move through it while sleeping. And drunk. Which happened more than often, after Zero had gotten their favourite ouzo company's president to provide them with private shipments straight from Greece. The spiral staircase had been hard to climb with a deadweight slung over his shoulder and a litre of heaven curdling his stomach, but Kaname had accomplished the trip many a time, and this time shouldn't have been different, because he knew he was, at some point, definitely going to get drunk off his ass.

-

Ichiru couldn't help the small, inquisitive smile that shone on his face as he flicked his cigarette. Kaname had gone straight for the cabinet after about five pathetic minutes of sobbing on the countertop (he just _knew_ he'd have to wipe that up later) and was currently raiding it for something very specific. He pulled out a tall, musty-brown bottle with a cork in the top. Zero had once identified it as something that could kill the dead, and Ichiru had believed him, and never bothered to touch it in all his years in the place. Of course, Kaname downed it like a kindergartener with a box of apple juice. He drowned himself in the liquid and choked a few times. The stench was repugnant, and added to the overall scents of desolation and anguish; it disgusted him. He took another drag and watched his brother walk toward the man. He had little like for the brunette, even though he'd seen him in as personal and intimate a situation could get. The man had unintentionally bared his soul to him, and after all that he'd seen, Ichiru could honestly say he was repulsed by him.

Zero was currently at a loss for words. It didn't matter much, but he couldn't help but want to say something. What Kaname was drinking could kill him. He wondered if this would be the end of the curse he'd placed on the man, but it seemed all too soon. And he'd never meant for it to be such a nasty end…

"Stop. I know I can never make this up to you," Kaname took a deep swig, almost as if it tasted like candy, then stilled for a moment. He was light headed. Zero looked desperately at his brother, "This shit can _kill_ him! **Do** something!" Ichiru looked at him incredulously,

"But I hate him?"

"Do it before I burn your stash." Ichiru looked scandalised,

"Blackmailing bastard!" But he got up anyway and grabbed the bottle. Kaname eased it to the countertop and looked around, woozy and bleary-eyed. His face was red and he was having a Hell of a time concentrating. He'd already had about half a pint; it was meant to be done in thimble-shots. He grabbed the dark marble countertop and tried to regain enough of his mind to get up the stairs. He wiped his face and stood as tall as he could. Taking a few anxious steps, he doubled over before reaching the living room carpet, lurching to the ground and heaving. The stuff was pure poison, and God, had he known it.

Ichiru looked warily at the man, unsure of what he was going to do. To Hell with the both of them if that monster puked his guts out all over his precious carpeting. Zero seemed completely lost in the situation, his lips a thin, grim line. To see Kaname so weak and wretched excited him like nothing else—it had been his lifelong dream!—but this was still the man he'd slept with for so many years. Grown accustomed to, given to, and also taken from. He nearly felt rude witnessing this.

"Kaname, you need to get up and take a shower. **Get up.**" And Kaname grasped his stomach and tried to make himself stable, wiping the spittle from the corners of his mouth and struggling to stand up. Ichiru, back in the kitchen, was curiously surprised. Everything he could do to the living came by physical means. Zero just had to kick 'em around and shout commands. Lucky bastard didn't know how much of an easy ride it was going to be.

The same sickness that had penetrated the lot of them back in the hospital had followed Kaname in a thin, sweeping miasma. The stench was horrid and made the two brothers want to vomit, but the curious show the brunette presented more than countered the need. He stood shakily, grabbing the wall for some support, nails digging into it; Ichiru grimaced in distaste. Oh, he'd have him fix it, _personally_. Nobody disrespected **his** house.

"_Fuck_-!" Almost to his feet, Kaname lurched again, and now leaned pitifully against the wall, covering his mouth in an attempt to keep down the drink and his own depression. Steadily regaining his resolve, Zero led the man who couldn't have possibly seen him to the staircase, a trip which took about fifteen feet and seven minutes of gagging, groaning, and almost-puking. His determination seemed heartless, how he pushed and pushed Kaname, demanding loudly that he _climb the fucking stairs_ or _get in the goddamned bed_. By the end of the ordeal, Ichiru was left at the bottom of the stairs about an hour before dawn with his hands in his jean pockets, white shirtsleeves rolled up haphazardly, hair coming undone from anxiety and angsty fingers, his eighth cigarette hanging from his lips. He sensed Zero's dismal fatigue minutes before he exited his bedroom. His steps were soft and quiet on the carpet, but Ichiru got the sensation of a weed eater being dragged through broken glass; the man's very aura was painful, heavy with his frustrations and suffering. The younger took the cigarette from his mouth so it wouldn't fall from his lips, stubbing it out in an ashtray at the base of the staircase. As Zero emerged, he felt so suffocated, he had to say something before the man killed him again.

"How is the bastard?" he droned with little concern. Zero looked at him as he descended the stairs. He reeked of the sweet power he hadn't known in life. Ichiru watched him nervously as the elder crossed the room. He poured an overfilled shot of the sinister drink and downed it hastily. The glass chipped when he dropped it in the sink. Ichiru began to grow a little annoyed, "Are you just going to stand there like a gargoyle?"

"You told me, yourself, that you hate him. Why would you want to bother with him?" Ichiru hesitated; Zero seemed absolutely depressed. It irked him that Kaname had such an effect on him. The melancholy was painful, evident in his crystalline eyes.

"I'm not going to stand by while some live pureblood ass makes you his bitch." Even in death, the bastard couldn't help but cling to **his** brother, of all people. The man should die as quickly as possible, and maybe his wife would be smart enough to follow. Zero didn't bother with any of the nasty glares he felt like tossing his brother. He would have collapsed on the bed with Kaname if he hadn't had some dishes to clean up. Even though Ichiru was more than happy to do housework in his boredom. It was comforting to feel useful.

The younger sighed, wishing he hadn't killed his cigarette. He put two in his mouth and lit them both, sucking in deep and removing one before shoving it between Zero's lips. He put his finger up, a firm 'No', when Zero made to protest.

"I don't care if I'm being insensitive: you're letting him keep you as a hostage."

"It won't last for very long. And I think I can handle myself perfectly well, as well as my affairs." Ichiru snorted, finally earning a glare as his brother loosened up with a few chores.

"… I'm getting hungry. Would you eat if I made some peperoncino?" Ichiru sat down and smoked calmly, puffing rings he'd had years to learn.

"I might dab in a little. Does that have meat in it?" Zero made a face, so he confirmed his indecisiveness with an _"Eh, maybe."_ The normalcy they had created subdued the misery choking the house in a stranglehold. But they both knew that in only a few hours, they would have to make a great effort to keep it up.

When Zero had dished out the meal, they took their plates to the backyard and sat in one of the rose gardens. The old Headmaster had personally tended to them in his greater youth, but now, walking into his sixties, he was tending to his own and having a damn good time of it, if the hybridized seeds he would occasionally send Zero were any marker. His hobby was well-fit for a man of his age. He indulged in his golden years, and the younger felt a little jealous of him.

Mouth full, Ichiru gazed at a few of the flowers. His brother, sitting beside him, did the same, dreamy looks crossing their faces. Of course, they weren't entirely identical anymore. Zero had died more than a dozen years after his brother, though if the illness hadn't taken him, he would have aged much better. It irritated Ichiru, who was used to seeing his brother's face as a reflection of his own, and now, here he was, still a kid, while Zero sat as mature as the sun is bright. The disconnection and difference he had yearned for as a child now destroyed many of the fantasies he'd built up over the years. The brave twins, conquering the sleeping world as they pleased. Now he would always tail behind.

But, surprisingly, t didn't bother him as much as he thought it would have. They had matured in different ways. Ichiru had done much of his growing in places much darker than Zero could have claimed. A good part of which he had spent being dead, either trailing a ghost that didn't want to be found or watching his brother with the eagerness and devotion he had lacked in their childhood. They had both grown, and maybe Ichiru would learn to ignore their differences. He figured it would all end the same, with Kaname's entrance to the picture.

"Stop staring at me. It's creeping me out." Zero said while gulping down a forkful of pasta. Ichiru continued to stare, so Zero looked away. The sun was starting to come up, and he turned his attention to the aqua green teasing the sky. It spiralled down through the trees and caught their feet in small, ugly splotches. Ichiru lifted his legs and rested his head on his knees, looking at the flowers again.

"Do we have any more questions for each other?" He said mildly, playing with one of the leaves that had landed on the bench. Zero kept chewing, swallowed, and cleared his throat,

"I suppose I'd like to know what led you to follow me." Ichiru didn't move other than the fidgeting of his hand, still playing with the leaf.

"I'll tell you only if you answer something similar."

"Fair trade," he said expressionlessly, taking one of his last bites.

"After searching for Lady Shizuka fell through, I was done with failure. I was drawn to my ashes and came here for the comfort," he turned to his brother for a moment, "it's very lonely, having no one to accompany you in death." Zero gave him a look that said 'watch it', and Ichiru smiled, closing his eyes, a soft bliss to his face. He turned back to the flowers, "Anyway, it felt like being home when I was with my other parts. Standing by you and the tree were some of the best experiences of my time dead." He scratched his head, "Plus, you were the only one who would slip me a shot or two, so how could I refuse?"

"I never thought you would turn out to be a drinker." Ichiru took out another cigarette—he'd lost count—and Zero lit it for him so he didn't have to move much.

"Never thought I'd be a smoker," he exhaled, "funny how the world works, right?"

"Mm." Zero murmured in agreement, finishing of his plate and placing Ichiru's on top of it.

"So," drawled the younger, "What exactly did you do to Kaname?" Zero jolted and turned to him fiercely,

"What-" Ichiru surveyed him indifferently,

"You were the one who was in favour of 'fair trade', right? Answer the question before you become a dishonest man." He said in a lukewarm tone. Zero's brow was in a knot and he pinched the bridge of his nose, elbows resting on his knees.

"Fine," he said curtly, "we got pissed drunk a couple of times, and I guess seeing him so carefree got to me. After a while, I was so agitated by his friendliness, I lost control." Ichiru looked at him expectantly,

"Lost control and…" Zero couldn't have winced harder,

"I placed a seal on him. Simple as that." Ichiru imitated 'The Scream',

"Well, what kind of seal, my scandalous big brother?" Zero was more than reluctant, and Ichiru was greatly surprised the man didn't just get up and leave.

"… it ended with me slapping on a couple more, and a few months after the first, binding him to me."

"Like a slave?" His brother inquired. Zero nodded.

"Yeah." It meant he would be Kaname's king: in the ancient world, if a king died, his attendants and servants would sacrifice themselves and follow him into the grave, so as to serve him obediently, and for eternity. Nobody really knew how ell it actually worked, on the part of the kingss, though there were only very few of them left to visit for evidence. Those that were did not make pleasant comapany.

They remained quiet until dawn, when Zero took the plates in and Ichiru followed, his cigarette on its last legs. He tossed it to the ground and stepped on it, walking into the house shortly after. He didn't bother closing the door. When he came in, he saw his brother had gone up to check on the vampire. He sat down at the table like a delinquent, feet where you eat, two chair legs on the floor, crossed arms and a dazed look signifying he was either high and didn't care or was making an effort to look indisposed and unapproachable. He wasn't high. He only had about two smokes left, so he wasn't about to waste them on a little stress. Not that he couldn't just go lift some whenever he went out, but he was more of an upstanding man than people would give him credit for. He was dealing with _this_ situation fairly well; better than his brother, even. He just wished the third leg would hurry up and get **it** over with.

-

Zero hadn't seen Kaname have this much trouble sleeping in years. Something like this only happened when the Senate was interfering with things, or his wife was in trouble. His face was twisted and caught in a terrible scowl, and his claws routinely came out to rip something, usually only going through the pillow. The dead man looked down at him from the bedside chair, watching him fidget and snarl, hearing his groans and murmurs. Whatever nightmare he was having certainly seemed intense, and Zero had to wonder if it was Rido the man was lashing out at, or himself. It disturbed him, of course, but there was little he could do to comfort the man. He could just hope Kaname had enough time left to see his son grow up, and not wither like he had.

The brunette stirred, but Zero didn't move. It was well past noon, and he knew the man didn't like to sleep too much; hammered drunk or not.

He got up slowly, opening his watery eyes and trying to see through the haze of liquor swirling in them. His head was swimming, so he inched up slowly, resting his back on the headboard and looking around warily. He barely remembered the night.

Zero watched him; the uneasiness, the shock, and the loathing. Kaname folded in on himself, slowly reaching up to the back of his head and gathering his hair. He yanked it back as hard as he could. Some clumps came out and he shouted. They grew right back. Zero remembered that trick from another time Kaname had gotten drunk off his ass. They were touring Thailand, a typical business vacation the older man would take, when they got hold of something that was probably illegal for a fairly good reason. Swaying in the hotel bathroom, Kaname had started muttering something. The first splash of blood, and Zero was immediately on him, holding him back and telling him to calm down. When they were sober, the man told him it was from the incarceration on Ichiou's estate. It happened when he would 'misbehave', or offend the Senate member in any way. The man had pulled his hair so hard, he'd probably taken some scalp with him. Kaname had since then done the same thing for punishment. He couldn't stand anyone touching his hair but for Yuki or Zero, and even then, flinch when they would yank it during sex or play.

The twin wanted to reach out, but the most he could do was just command him. He didn't want to order the man; he wanted to talk to him. He'd thought to ask his brother what he could do, but there was only so much a ghost could accomplish.

"_Fucking Hell_," Kaname brushed the hair from his forehead and got up, wobbling. The blood was spotty on his hair, making it shine beautifully, even though Zero felt sick looking at it. The brunette headed toward the master bathroom for a quick shower, so the ghost quietly excused himself from the room, and went to join his brother.

-

Ichiru had been waiting on the first floor for a while,

"So," he said with a smirk as his brother descended the stairs, "how's he taking it?" Zero's face twisted. It wasn't that he was **trying** to be offensive, but this son of a bitch was invading their time together. What was he supposed to think?

"I don't know if I can let this go on,"

"You don't have a choice. Do I need to get you _'The Beginner's Guide for the Recently Deceased'_, or something?" Zero looked like he could bite his brother like a rabid dog, at the moment,

"Read it. Didn't do much for me." He passed his brother breezily and walked to the backyard. The trouble would be opening the door. Now that Kaname was awake, if he heard them doing something… He turned begrudgingly to his brother, "Get him to open it." Ichiru gave him one of those _"Are you __**serious**__?"_ looks, and waved him off,

"Do it yourself, princess." Zero clenched his fists tightly, and Ichiru instinctually worried he might have drawn blood,

"**KANAME**." He boomed. The upstairs shower turned off, and a door closed. In about four minutes, the fresh-looking brunette's footsteps _tmp_ed delicately down the stairs. He couldn't look up to save his life, at the moment. He opened the door and stood there for a moment, trying to get as much non-depressing, mountain-grade fresh air as possible, before Zero went by him, trying very hard to ignore the sad look in his old flame's eyes. He breathed in deeply as the man went by, and Zero stopped for a moment; Ichiru's feet lifted from the table.

Kaname's eyes were closed in focus: he could smell the cold winter air and the brittle leaves as they turned to mush on the ground. How the mist had dappled small honeysuckle flowers and toyed with rowan tree berries. Zero's scent had lingered all over the house, but never had it been more prominent than in his garden, where he had stayed for the greater part of his sickness, tending to his flowers with a gentleness he wouldn't dare allow leave. He was positively everywhere, and it was hard for Kaname not to picture the man sipping tea on one of the benches or relaxing on his lounger with a book. He tried to stay peaceful in his sorrow, for the sake of Zero's noise-hating memory, but it was more difficult than he had thought to control his sadness. Not even his parents had had this effect on him.

He walked sluggishly down the small steps to the patio, where the lounger laid. Not glancing at it, he looked straight on in a tour of the garden. Ichiru watched them both perplexedly, getting up and being very careful not to make a sound. Zero followed Kaname as he inspected bird berries and winter jasmine buds. The snow hadn't come yet, but the leaves had begun to rot already, and became a stew-like mush beneath his feet. He walked across them almost as easily and mechanically as the twins did. It was very cold out, but the brothers hadn't noticed. When they saw the light frost on leaves, Kaname's wet hair and thin clothing suddenly became much more interesting, though neither had either the heart or interest to command or push him back inside. So he walked through his depression, unhindered, his ghosts following him through the garden he found hard to enjoy. Though, he found himself remembering some particularly funny moments: Yuki eating berries that weren't blueberries and paying for it for a couple of days; Kain getting drunk with his cousin and pushing him off one of the treetops; sleeping with Zero in the summertime under one of the grape vines. He had been very tempted to make some of the fruit into wine after that, but Zero absolutely forbade it, and they'd rotted along as they pleased.

He circled the tree the twins had sat at hours before, looking up into the swaying branches and seeing nothing but a greyish mountain sky, unsure if it was morning or night. Ichiru caught on to his confusion, and murmured amusedly,

"Fine piece o' work you left him in, you cold bastard." Kaname stalled a bit, trying to remember which path was the one back to the house.

"**Far left**." Zero stated quietly. Ichiru gave him a look that said purely _"Cheater,"_ and tailed the brunette as he unconsciously followed Zero's command. They made it to the tree just in front of the house, and Kaname took a breather. He was still wobbling from the alcohol—from a drink that Zero had explicitly warned everyone who'd come to his house _never_ to touch—and was having a hard time staying focused. Forgetting pathways and not knowing if the sun was up was not like him. Even dead drunk on ouzo, he'd at least remembered where the room key was, or where they'd parked the car, (yes, Kaname Kuran had driven drunk a couple of times) and, humiliatingly enough, where their _clothes_ were: skinny-dipping in Bermuda was only fun until the police caught sight of your bare bum. Although, the two of them had joked it had been a pleasure on the force's part: Kaname had gotten quite tan with the use of sunglasses and a little coaxing when it came to his skin cells…

And, of course, 'they' meant 'he and Zero'. Because he'd done damn-near everything with Zero. He just couldn't help it.

Zero watched Kaname collapse at the base of a tree, head between his knees, arms folded over them. The man was absolutely miserable, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. To feel so useless was-

"Sucks, doesn't it?" Ichiru spoke up suddenly. Zero was still looking at his old lover,

"What?" A look,

"This is what I felt like for twelve years…" his brother looked like he was going to cry or try to kill himself. Ichiru didn't recommend either: they hurt and you got laughed at. When he didn't do anything at all, the younger couldn't keep quiet, "God, throw me a fucking bone. The least you could manage is a 'sorry, bro' or a 'I promise I'll never ignore you again.'" Zero just glared at him, but any regrets Ichiru might have had dried up when he found out Shizuka didn't need him anymore. Which was heart-breaking, but at least he got all the emotional crap out of the way, though now he had to deal with the same whining and lamentations he sloughed off on random poltergeists and a few fish (there were _thousands_ of dead fish swimming around Zero's place.)

"God, I fucked up… where's the ouzo?" Kaname rubbed his forehead as an oncoming headache began blasting through his temples. His head tipped back against the rough bark of the tree, hair getting caught and kept in disarray. Zero watched him with a heavy heart, walking over and sitting down on the chair he knew the man had avoided _specifically_ because it was, well, _his_. Almost like a shrine.

"Pounding your feet into the ground like you're in a parade isn't going to get him to notice you," Ichiru called out from one of the trees at the beginning of the garden. He watched in boredom from the shade: he'd seen this movie before.

Zero didn't even bother glaring at him as he tried to man up and take everything as calmly as he could. Even though Kaname couldn't sense him, he felt he had to handle this strongly, for his sake. "I'm so sorry," the drunk drawled lowly, catching Zero's attention. He played with his hair, brow knotted and face scrunched up in contemplation, "I should have treated you better. You probably wouldn't have gone so soon if I'd just accepted you before…" Both twins frowned: they knew it had been a definite agreement that they (initially meaning Kaname and Zero, but Ichiru was there, so…) would never hold regret. The past was the past, and a hunter and a pureblood were **not** expected to get along in the slightest. It was jut common sense for them to despise each other, or at least be cold to each other, and Kaname had no right betraying the confidence of the little truce they'd drawn up: leave the dead, dead.

"I was so stupid—I was just trying to think of Yuki—and everything got so muddled and messed up with Rido, I just couldn't bear it!" He was crying, now, and Zero felt much worse that he hadn't the voice to yell for him to shut up, it wasn't his fault. "I had so much anger just boiling inside me, and I couldn't afford to lose it quite yet so I treated you so terribly, and I know you would argue that you turned me away but, but I…" Ichiru's ears perked up a bit at the flare of his brother's aura: _don't you __**dare **__belittle me, you sorry sack of—_

"I should have forced myself! Even if it meant making you hate me for the time, when Yuki called you over, I just didn't know what to say! Everything from the Academy just blew through my head, and I couldn't help but think, 'this is my chance to make right of this! I can fix this, and make us all happy!'…" He sniffled, and Zero almost knocked over his lounger and he shot up to pace. Kaname was being pretty selfish, thinking _everything_ was his fault. Te elder twin had obviously had more say in the formation of their relationship than Kaname was willing to admit, though not knowing at all would probably be the more likely case. "When we would get drunk, I would turn into this person that was willing to relax and lose control. I hated knowing that when I was sober, but when I was with you, it didn't matter," he chuckled a bit, "like when the market crashed and we said, 'Fuck it,' and went on vacation. I lost an eighth of my stock, went ahead and got drunk, and was perfectly fine with leaving with you, wherever you wanted to go…" That had been the Bermuda trip. Zero had actually hated it, because Kaname had been drunk or tipsy for the majority of it. Only when they were out in daylight was he at least mildly sober. The best part, in the end, had been their night at the cliff.

"You told me you couldn't live without me, and we slept together after jumping off." Zero said quietly. They'd done it in the shallow pool beside the cliff at Tobacco Bay. All the shacks had closed, and there hadn't been a tourist in sight. He'd gotten a chill when the brunette had told him, but it seemed so terribly romantic at the time, and the ouzo had more than lubricated the moment. Kaname sobbed into his wrist as he hadn't heard a thing, trying to wipe away some of the mucus leaking from his nose,

"I meant everything. I tried to never, ever lie to you. Everything I said I felt about you or would do for you is true," Ichiru looked a little irritated, rotating his wrist as if saying, _"Wrap it up, wrap it up."_ Zero was close to punching him. "Since the day on the field after Rido had died, when I thought it was all over for me, I've thought I never wanted to hurt you." He wiped at his face again, trying to calm down a bit and not aggravate the headache, "And now, just look what I've done, killing you and abandoning my own family to cry about it. You must hate me," He seemed like he wanted very badly to laugh, and it pained Zero greatly that the man was still turning on himself for all the faults in his world. Kaname just seemed to be a naturally guilty person when it came to loved ones, something going almost hand in hand with his controlling personality and constantly conflicting, contradicting universe.

Zero sighed while his lover kept weeping, "I wish you would just shut up and give someone else the credit, crybaby." Oh, he was much angrier than he let on, though Ichiru could easily see past the calm look on his face he'd adapted after years on the job. Move quickly; think fast; always on the run; always fighting. Over the past decade, Zero had become quite good at what he did. A few of the most controversial hits, he'd carried out as airily and suavely as the pureblood, himself. And while the PR wasn't very good at the Agency for a while, he'd certainly grown a fan club filled with people, primarily young women, who were just _dying_ to see him kill again and come out of that damned, secluded estate. Which had been shocking to Kaname, whose only introduction to Zero's 'primary' love life was the pleasant experience of Yuki forcing a book of brides into _his_ hands when the stubborn bastard wouldn't listen to _her_. It was all particularly awkward and not very fun for him, but Zero, in the end, shrugged it off with a drink and a couple of naughty looks before they fucked and made everything better. At the moment, Zero could see Kaname was trying very hard to shrug it off like he had when the oldster was around to help, but the alcohol just seemed to drown him, and he kept crying until he got tired again, and laid down on the lounger, Zero standing by the tree, waiting for him. He stroked the brown hair absentmindedly, the brunette too drunk and far-gone to even notice. Unlike Ichiru, he feared he wouldn't have to wait very long at all.


	3. Chapter 3

When Kaname sobered up a bit, he didn't talk much. He cleaned up his messes without Ichiru having to get him to, hair hanging over his eyes as he washed down the countertop and scrubbed off the dried mucus. The back door was open, and the two brothers were standing and lying around in the rain. Zero was too grim to want to talk to, and Ichiru was too deep in thought to uphold a point any conversation. All the while, over the light hush of the water, the constant, long rough strokes of the dish towel played in the background. The younger brother was surprised his twin could stand the silence, but it seemed to fit the moment, and he didn't want to push things the wrong way and have Zero _intentionally_ ignore him.

"… He needs to go back to his wife and child."

"What do you expect him to do in this state?" the older man snapped, "he's barely standing; how the fuck is going to take care of Yuki and a baby?!" his growl had almost turned into shouting, and Ichiru came back,

"Then fucking **command** him to! If you don't, I am hopping in that fucking car right now." Zero twitched, but when Ichiru started walking, "You can mope all you want, but I want him _out of my house_!" Jumping up, the other shoved him to the side, pushing him against the brick wall and ready to call him out, when there was a large clatter in the kitchen. Zero immediately dropped his brother and ran to the door on the patio. Kaname had just slammed it shut. The lock clicked as he walked to the counter. His bare feet stepped through a sea of dish fragments, a trail of blood and skin leading to his heels. Standing idly for a few moments, head down, he scared Zero more than he had in his entire life.

"Ichi... Ichiru…" Ichiru was still rubbing his angry neck of his brother's firm grip. He walked over and froze when he saw Kaname standing in the kitchen. From the base of the steps, he saw the look in the man's eyes,

_Dead and dreaming already…_

His only regret was he'd have to clean up the mess. Zero started banging on the door, shouting, but the brunette couldn't hear him. When a pale hand reached for the drawer, the twin began thrusting his weight against the glass, shouting. Kaname stalled for a moment, looking down into the drawer and its rather lethal contents. He pulled out a cloudy plastic bottle, a rusty powder sloshing easily from side to side. He held it to eye-level, unknowingly looking straight at Ichiru. The twin stared back at him with apathetic boredom: kill yourself already and get it over with.

Zero was having a Hell of a time getting the door to break: he'd had designers from the Agency build it as a fortress, no vampires in; no bloody beasts out. He whirled around and caught Ichiru's collar again, throwing him against the glass.

"_**Open it**_." He said threateningly. His brother had collapsed at the base of the door, body hanging painfully over a few cement steps. The look in his eyes was hateful,

"No." He said quietly. Zero picked him up and tried to toss him again, but the man managed to get his hands around his brother's throat. They struggled uselessly against each other, until the elder finally landed a punch hard enough to send his counterpart sprawling. He ran to the door and started shouting for Kaname to open it, but looked in and saw him.

-

He hung his head in shame: the coward's way out. Welcoming death just because it was easier than dealing with what he'd been dished. He'd taken one of the substances from Zero's 'medicine' drawer, which was usually filled with all sorts of healing, burning, itching, rotting, and God-knew-what-else powders. It stood on the counter, top off, a glass of water resting near it. He brought the bottle close to his face, trying to inhale it. Zero watched several streaks of red rush into the man's nose. Kaname again placed it on the counter: scentless, tasteless; it had been called 'Revenge in a Bottle', being a substance so powerful and dangerous, it was rarely used in interrogation, even. The hunter had kept it on hand purely for home 'demonstrations'. 'Hold out your hand, please,' 'Bastard—AHHH,' sorts of things. All very chilling and professional and more sickening than one could imagine. It had originally been praised in its effectiveness in retracting answers even from high nobles and a pureblood or two, but over the years its implementations had become more for utter cruelty instead of interrogation, and its production had diminished to a few small bottles every couple of years for the more extreme cases.

The way it worked, Kaname remembered having been told, was by exhausting any healing abilities whatsoever. It was meant for destruction of the flesh, but also had a stimulant in it that would set healing abilities to an inexplicably high rate: in short, it healed a vampire while it slowly disintegrated it, a very tedious, **extremely** painful death, which could last anywhere from forty-five minutes to a couple of days. Those who had suffered 'demonstrations' had holes that went through even their bones, still working even after years of use, keeping the wound open for 'examination and study', which amounted to a few very painful sessions of reopening old scars and poking things into screaming bodies. To show them who owned them, of course.

His nostrils and sinuses were already burning and flaring at the medicine's touch. His throat and lungs had begun aching, too. Maybe a couple of particles were all it took; it had been pretty effective in getting high-ranking nobles to sign over property for investigation and information pertaining to conspiracies. Ichiou had probably looked into it for the use of the Senate against disobedient purebloods. A few of his memories from his incarceration were rather foggy, so the powder may have been the fault of the few scars that had managed to hold on through his power and the passing years. The torture and sex acts should have been enough, though… His head hung down further, body swaying lifelessly. Then he raised head up as far as he could, eyes closed, depression curling around him like a thick smoke. Zero and Ichiru could see the miasma slowly seeping out of the door. It tried to snap at them, and the younger scooted away, still watching the two men as one continued to stand at the glass, the blackish streaks beginning to curl around the bases of his legs. Ichiru gulped: that shit could swallow you up.

"Zero," Kaname whispered, bringing his head down again. He stared at the bottle as if it was a chess piece, calculations and plans running from his head as he tried to relax for one last time. Then, slowly, he reached for it, rimming the opening with his index finger, and then slowly sinking down until it touched the surface of the orange. He flinched, this time. It burned away his fingerprint slowly. He held that pose for a few minutes, beginning to sweat. The particles clinging in his chest case were making breathing laborious and painful, but he kept his eyes open and tried to stay strong. About three minutes later, he pulled the finger out. Zero retched.

Kaname stared at it interestedly: the nail had slowly burned down, the powder doing nothing to stop the scent, and the tip was almost completely burned off. A stub of bone sizzled and cracked, dust falling on the countertop. He unwittingly gripped his chest, breathing laborious and heavy. Narrowing his eyes, he fell against the counter, head cracking loudlyon the marble and the water crashing on the floor. He'd knocked over the bottle, the powder lingering in the air a few feet from him, some splashed across the floor and sink. His hand rested in a small pile of it.

Zero would forever remember that shriek of pain.

The brunette flew from the island and into the wall, breaking the surface as he thrashed against it, the skin slowly bubbling away, veins dying and healing, nerves twitching and giving out. An oozing red streak ran the length of his forearm and he screamed horrifically from the pain. The scientist had been right when they'd made the assumption that even a pureblood would succumb when it was used. They'd be proud to know it was so very effective on even strong pureblood like this one.

The miasma flared and reacted to Kaname's pain, making small shrieks of its own as it shrank in some areas and gurgled explosively in others. Ichiru stepped back warily, eyeing the mass as it thrust over the roof and clawed the gently swaying treetops, stilling them even though a breeze was going. Zero kept shouting,

"**OPEN THE GODDAMNED DOOR NOW**, **KANAME**!!!" He bashed against the glass fruitlessly, his lover crying and thrashing about inside.

Kaname started knocking things over: throwing frying pans so that they broke the walls and stone tiles on contact, the glasses of the cabinet shattering as his mind went haywire. Even the back door cracked under his raging power. Zero pounded on it as hard as he could, watching as the brunette tore through the kitchen, screaming. He knew not to pour water over something like this like a good little listener. It only caused it to spread. The best he could do at this rate was wait out the time it took to kill him from either pain or the blood loss. The twins stared on in horror, the glass finally cracking to the extent where it just crumbled under the pressure. Zero ran in immediately, the kitchen not looking much like a kitchen anymore.

Kaname was currently bashing the burning arm on the wall, spreading the dust around as a layer of muscle was burned off. He banged his head against the plaster and his brow split, having little trouble healing, this early on in the game. Zero rushed to his side, trying to grab him but seeing he could in no way force the man to still. He ran to the destroyed island, scrambling through the debris to find some medicine to at least stop the pain and kill him quickly, but Kaname had damn-near obliterated everything. He kept listening to the screams, the miasma biting him and desperately trying to slough off some of the pain. Near death, Kaname still clung to him, sharing the burn and the hatred and the sadness. He stumbled from the room, trying to get to the stairs while Kaname blasted through walls and curled iron railings. He ran up hem as fast as he could, all the whole having to listen to the bellows and wails, stumbling as side tables and paintings ripped themselves apart. He reached his room and went for the nightstand, grabbing the gun and shakily loading and cocking it. He ran downstairs and flew past Kaname, who trembled and the floor, vomiting the dust that had become his organs and blood, still blowing everything to Hell. Zero came out and shoved the gun in Ichiru's hand, looking at him fiercely. The man watched him disinterestedly, having learned to resist flinching at the shouts,

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he said with a cruel smile. Zero punched him again and carried him inside, tossing him to the floor and climbing on top of him, feet away from Kaname. He struggled to get his brother to point the gun at the brunette's temple, but Ichiru, through the pound of his bruised head, fought against him, losing. When the barrel was finally pointed at Kaname, the brunette stilled for a moment, and then Zero forced his brother to pull the trigger. There was a deafening bang, but Kaname kept thrashing.

A hand hovered between the brunette and the brothers.

Ichiru looked up into the smile of a bright, short, black-haired man. The man wagged his finger at them, "You're not allowed to go that far, Ichiru," he said patiently. Ichiru lowered his gaze respectfully, then wriggled beneath his brother. Kaname scratched the walls, a few nails coming loose in the process as he kept screaming.

"I know, Sir. I tried to resist him, but-" The man cut him off, looking quizzically at Zero, who stared at him dreadfully,

"I didn't cover very much with _you_." His posture was relaxed. He closed his eyes and sighed, turning around as Kaname's hoarse and painful voice rang out. Reaching down to shut the pureblood's eyelids, he stopped, eying the burning flesh, muscle seeping off bone like rotten stew. "… I never understood why you kept feeling the necessity to keep this thing around." He grabbed Kaname's chin and forced the man to look at him. The brunette writhed and tried to escape the hallucination,

"No, Kaname; look at me." And the brunette stopped. He stared at the other childishly, still convulsing automatically, but for the most part focusing on the strange person squatting over him. "You will die in 37 hours, at this rate." Kaname gurgled a little every now and then, choking on the dust inside of him and scratching at the floor with his evaporating claws. Death studied him for a moment, then turned to Ichiru, "Leave." He said, and the man did. Zero tumbled to the wrecked tiles as his brother pushed him off, "You," Death stated, "give me the gun," and Zero did so. The brunette immediately shot him in the kneecap, and he crumbled with a scream, "That's the beginning of your atonement," he began, a wicked smile crossing his face, "you had no right putting that damned seal on him…" As an afterthought, he added, "and you have _no idea_ how long things like that can take to heal." Zero gripped his bleeding kneecap, rocking on the floor with his good leg as the man turned back to Kaname, a curtain of his long blackish hair hiding his face. His skin glowed luminously in the dim light, black shirt partially undone. That was how Zero saw Death.

Death leaned down and looked Kaname in the eye, seeing the brunette's pupils move back and forth rapidly. He was obviously in pain, but then again, everyone got a little weird when Death walked in the room. Or, at least weird compared to the faces they showed their friends.

"Kaname," he said kindly, "I know you're in pain, darling, but I need you to listen to me for a moment." Kaname's eyes had been streaming tears for the past twenty minutes or so, making it difficult to see, but he only cried harder when he did, the brown hair brushing his face just like it had all those years ago… the memories did nothing to stop his convulsions, and he cried harder as the other tried to calm him.

"You don't want to go this way. Bad things can happen to people who do, okay?" Death smiled warmly, and kissed Kaname's forehead, causing the man to flinch and grasp the fabric of the coat brushing softly against his body. "If you get through this right now, I promise I'll tell you whatever you want to know. Absolutely anything." Death couldn't directly interfere with anything, Zero remembered, but he used his neutrality to his own advantage, and could certainly get imaginative when desperate times called for desperate measures.

Kaname eyed the soft skin and brown eyes, still gripping the coat, pieces of his flesh getting caught in the dark wool. He closed his eyes and let out a long, low whine, breaths shaky as he tried to steady himself and staunch the tears. The brown hair mingled with his own as Death continued to kiss him, finally resting their foreheads together,

"I'm very glad you're being so strong, and I'm very sorry we had to meet when you were so young." Kaname struggled as he tried to reply, stumbling over words and stuttering worse than the time he'd gotten drunk with a fever and seasickness. Death caught on to what he was trying to do, and gently said, "Your wife and child will not know about this…" Zero saw him pause as Kaname looked at him imploringly, "Zero does." The scarred man's eyes closed and he shook a bit more, urgently trying to keep as much of himself together as possible. He opened them again and kept looking at Death and the light smile that crossed those pale lips, "… I'm afraid you can't." A few seconds later, Death looked back at Zero distastefully, "Do you still love him?" he asked simply. The dead man stared at him,

"W-What?" he gasped through his pain,

"Do you still love him? Think carefully, or you won't like your answer." Zero gulped through the pain in his knee,

"I n-never did. I did ha-all those things to him… Whywouldyoueven haah-ask that?" He grunted and groaned; pain aside, still very much his same old bitter, distrusting self. Death kept looking at him for a moment or two,

"…Good boy." He turned back to Kaname, "Yes," Zero stared at him angrily, about to say something, "from the bottom of his heart." There was another pause, "Zero, don't interrupt me. I doubt you know what he asked." And another, "…He would kill for you." The light-haired man stared at him speechlessly. It was very strange watching the two interact: bloodied brown hair resting against bloodied brown hair; ripped neck and reddened mouth comparing to burns and welts and cries of agony. If he were younger, he might have come in his pants. "They will live…" Death said wistfully, "they will live much, much longer than your parents did." Zero began to feel a little dizzy. He took his hands from the wound and looked down at it, palms slipping on the soiled floor from the blood. It felt gritty between his fingers, but it was definitely better than what he'd had on his death bed. The flow hadn't staunched in the slightest, keeping up a good pace, happy as could be as he fought the rare bouts of nausea that long ago would come and go when he finished a particularly gruesome job for the Agency. Not that he always felt like vomiting when bats started dropping because of A/C lead poisoning ('air-condition' acute lead poisoning—many bullet wounds): he didn't _like_ gore, he was just a little desensitised by his work. But maybe it was the blood loss and seeing the man he used to fuck writhing in pain that made the first heave come. He fell to the floor and puked up the peperoncino, the lemonade, alcohol, and the last bit of strength he'd been carrying with him since he first saw Kaname reach for the drawer. Folding in on himself, soaked in blood and vomit, he passed out before the words he was speaking could reach his brain,

"I wanted you so much, I had you die with me," he couldn't see Death looking at him, "but I always did hate you, and I know Yuki deserves you so much more, so," He hacked a little more, the substance covering his lips as he treaded the last words, "so I don't want you quite yet." Death watched him as he fainted, somewhat used to this setting, but just a little disturbed by what the man had admitted.

"… Never mind what I said before, Kaname; no. He did, but he certainly doesn't anymore." Kaname's eyes widened a little, wheezing as the powder completely destroyed his lungs. He clawed at the coat a little more before finally passing out from the pain. Death got up and didn't bother brushing himself off, walking through the dust and the vomit and the blood to the back door. Ichiru stood, shaking painfully at the base of the tree, holding his knee as it bled profusely. He was crying. Death stepped over to him and picked him up, puffing as he held him, finding it a bit of a task, and took him inside. He placed him against the wall next to Kaname. Ichiru stared as his brother fearfully, the pain blocking any of the cool sarcasm he could have summoned up. Instead, he began crying even more, until Death walked over to him after having rummaged through the broken cabinets, handing him a bottle of clear liquid,

"Pour it over him." He stated simply. Ichiru looked at him, trembling greatly. Death huffed and puffed again as he picked up the shaking boy and placed him on top of Kaname's bent and burnt body. "Start pouring, little boy." He was a little uneasy, helping people so directly, and he wondered if he would get in trouble, but as he forced the boy to slosh the vinegar over the brunette, he found he felt no worse or frightful than if he had stumbled over words in front of a friend: it happened; mistakes happened, and it was perfectly alright if he 'misinterpreted the rules' a few times in his career. He shushed the boy as he sobbed in his arms, watching as the rotting died down and the regeneration slowly started up.

"You can go to sleep now, Ichiru." He stated as he set the weeping boy on the floor again. He looked a little nauseous, but he managed to keep it in, and collapsed on a couple of fragmented bricks from the oven. Death walked through the past them and into the yard, wiping his shoes on the outside mat and hurrying toward his next appointment. He walked through the tree and the berry bushes, wiping off a little of the miasma that had clung to his shirt.

The scene was constant: nobody forgot their fears or their pleasures, or what they thought was wrong in the world. They still complained about the same old shit they had in life, and though he couldn't ever tire of it, it was difficult to have so many different answers in the same conversation: 'Your family loves you,' 'your old flame is still burning,' 'yes, you'll meet them eventually.' It was completely generic, but in every situation came names, years, memories, and spites. Ichiru still loved his brother to the point of painful possession; Zero still loved Kaname to the point of painful rejection; and Kaname still felt guilty for every fucking thing wrong in his universe, his fault or not. Most likely, they would laugh and bicker and fuck just as much as they had in life, when the oldest one went. There were only about ten hours left until he woke up. About twenty hours after that, he'd walk into Zero's room and pull out the gun hidden under the bathroom sink. He might crouch in the shower, remembering being shoved brutally against the tile, and the few, tender instances in which Zero would wash and massage him and lather him with kisses like normal people might. Either way, it was they way they made love.

The twins would wake up in about thirteen hours, remain dazed and incapacitated for about another hour, and try to crawl to the living room and rest on the couch. They'd hear the bang and Zero's adrenaline would be pumping so fast, he'd run up the stairs without flinching, and watch as Kaname waited for the bullet in his heart to stop it, still not seeing his lover, still not quite ready.

Yuki would come in about thirty-five hours, concerned and bringing the baby with her. She'd take him with her into the destruction, keeping him close, walking up the staircase and into the bathroom, even though Ichiru could hear his brother's cries from the couch. She'd see the body of her husband and call the doctor, but she knew, and she knew why, and she tried to make sure Harue wouldn't. But the boy still saw Zero weeping into a dusty, ripped jacket, because he couldn't touch the body by himself. Harue would know, and for the rest of his life, he would see would see two very strange, solitary men follow him through adolescence. But he never saw his father or Zero again, but for the pictures his mother would keep in his bedroom as she sang him to sleep.

Death came to the intersection and saw a man sitting on a bench, a cup of tea in his hands. He could see Zero staring from a safe distance, leg just fine, watching the nearly-identical-to-him men sit and talk.

"… Does he really?" Kaname said hesitantly. Zero stepped out from the brush,

"He does, Mr. Kuran." Death sipped his tea and looked away for a moment while Zero wrapped his arms around Kaname's shoulders. The brunette immediately turned around and grasped him tightly. Death did not see them again.


End file.
